Disney and Spirituality

So, where I am at the moment there has been a flurry of snow!
Therefore, me and my flatmates have decided to just have a movie day :D
We have watched Mulan, Wolverine, and Anastasia so far.
Since watching these things, I have come to note a common theme among Disney animated movies... There always seems to be some kind of magic, or spiritual thing that happens in the movie.
Take Mulan, for example. Mulan is helped by a magical dragon who was sent by her ancestors.
Anastasia was running away from a curse made by a (really creepy) dead guy.
Lion King, Simba talks to his dad in the sky.
Beauty and the Beast - creepy curse again.
Cinderella - Fairy Godmothers.
Aladdin - Genie
And the list goes on!

I'm not necessarily saying that this is a bad thing. It is just interesting to see how spirituality seems to be a common theme in Disney's movies, whether it takes the form of local beliefs (as in Mulan), or magic in numerous of their other movies.
I think it would be rather interesting to see how Disney's movies have impacted on a generation in regards to their spiritual lives.

So, let's take a straw poll:
Do you think Disney's movies have impacted upon your spiritual life? If so, how? If not, why don't you think so?

Reversing

Gah! I hate reversing!!
In a car that is. It is one of the things that I can do if I have to, but if I don't, I will just avoid it. *sigh*
I was reminded of this just tonight as I was at my grandparents house dropping off something for my Dad who is staying there tonight. Anyway, they have a reasonably long driveway, so I went all the way down it and then had to reverse back out of it (of course!).
Anyway, I probably would've put some lovely paint on the corrugated iron fence if it hadn't been for Mum and Dad, but I was frustrated that Mum was talking to Dad, and Dad was talking to Mum, but it felt like no-one was talking to me and telling me what was happening! Plus, it was dark, and that wasn't making it easier.
And so I have been thinking tonight that sometimes (though we don't like it!) we actually need to reflect, and 'reverse' as it were into our own lives in order to be able to move forward again. I know it is not a novel idea, but it is still a good one none the less.
Recently, I was talking to a pastoral friend of mine, and he was asking me about Vanuatu, and what the main thing was that impacted me about the trip.
You know what? I don't know what it is! I know that it was a God thing, and that He was very faithful in it, but I didn't know what to tell this person when the question was asked.
For me, Vanuatu was a long time ago, even though it was only at the start of this year!
Sometimes we really do need to take time to reflect, and to remind ourselves of the past - even the recent past! - to give us direction for the future.
That one lunch with my pastoral friends was really good for me - God timing - to remind me that what I was doing was the right thing to do to honour the dream that I have.
So reflect, look for the God timing and:
HAVE FUN!

Jehovah our Concentration

Jehovah Jireh, The Lord our Provider.

My question is, does God refer to Himself as The Lord our Concentration in the Bible?
Just looking at this week I have been doing assignments and have been terribly terribly distracted by so many things (mainly internet related....) that I am wondering if I can ask God to be my concentration.
You could say that concentration is a by-product of strength, and God certainly is our strength.
So is He, or can He be, our concentration?

We live, now, in a world full of information and entertainment, and even info-tainment (!).
But we are not called to be a part of this world, we are called to be a part of God's world. Maybe that, then, is our cross to bear as westerners, the thorn in our side, the fact that we MUST get beyond ourselves, have some self-control and forcefully sit down and get concentrated on God for a bit everyday.
I, personally, find that I cannot read my Bible in the morning or pray if I turn on my computer first. My God time in the mornings needs to be before I hit electronics of almost any kind (except for microwaves and toasters, I like breakfast!).
If I don't do it before then I can't concentrate, the world is in my head (like The Doctor) and no matter how much I want to spend some quality with God I can't.

I see why King David liked to spend his mornings with God.
And also DC Talk

What do you think?

The Uncultured Project

So I'm sitting at home, chilling because I have a sore neck.... (bah!)
And I am catching up on my blog reading (so far behind!!) and I read this:

The Uncultured Project blog

The Uncultured Project is run by Shawn Ahmed who is Bangladeshi, but lives in the US. He started the project when, instead of buying an Xbox, he decided to go to Bangladesh and use the money to benefit others by buying mosquito nets, etc. I really love what Shawn has been doing, both alone and with Save the Children, and so I have subscribed to his blog.

The link above is to his latest blog post, and I thought it was a really great read.
It is really interesting to see how many aid programmes seem to miss the boat when it comes to getting local knowledge on how communities work. I was especially wowed on Shawn's look at Orphanages.
In a Muslim country, like Bangladesh, Orphanages are the best thing for those who do not have parents, as the western way of thinking does not give the child any better opportunities than the orphanage, and may in fact be treated worse than at the orphanage.
But, should Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) follow some of the customs of the country they are entering, then fantastic things may result!

So have a read (it is a LONG read, btw), and let me know your thoughts. I would love to hear them and discuss! Plus I am on holiday, so I will happily converse with you all.

What shall I write this week...?

I think this is the question that goes through all bloggers minds when they finally sit down at their computer and go to write something. Either because it is a regular occurrence, or because they figure it has been too long between posts and they really should write a blog because they DO want to be a blogger, they just suck at it so far.
For me, I'm a little of column A, and a little of column B.
For the last couple of weeks I seem to be blogging on a Sunday. And I think that if I leave it for longer than a week, I feel bad for those of you who are regular readers (if there are any out there? Holla if you are!), and I really do want to blog and get my thoughts out there on the interweb.
But I really like Sundays. For a number of reasons actually. I think I will share these with you.

1. A day to catch up
A number of years ago when I was doing my undergrad, one of the pastors at my church encouraged us to give up our Sundays and not doing any work or homework on them. I have chosen (to the best of my abilities) to do things that otherwise get neglected: like washing, blogging, cleaning, etc. So I love Sundays as days to catch up on neglected but important things.

2. A day for friends
And since I choose to take Sundays off from study, it gives me the time and brain space to catch up with friends. For me it is important to set time aside for friends, otherwise I become a recluse who likes to watch too much tv.... Also I know that it takes brain space to engage in other people's lives, so I choose to use it! Sunday's are a great day to catch up with friends!

3. A day to just blob
If I have had a pretty big week (or just a big weekend!) I can just chill on Sunday knowing that I have done enough work in the week. I allow myself to relax. I think it is quite important to allow yourself to do nothing, to take a moment, even go so far as to have a cry or a laugh or a walk or whatever and do it for yourself. For your sanity.I am a big fan of taking time for sanity. Otherwise we would all be crazy! Or, well, more crazy than normal!

So my question to you is:
Do you have a day that you purposefully don't do much? Would you if you could? How do you attempt to keep sane?

50th Post

So, it has taken me about a year and a half to get here, but this right here is my 50th post.
And what a great way to celebrate it by saying that I have successfully completed my first practicum for teaching! Yay!
It was a great school, and it was cool to be a part of their family for those short 6 weeks, but strangely enough, I am ready to go back to some of the theory of teaching before I crack into the 2nd practicum.
I feel that it is just really good to get a solid foundation of theory before I go and apply it all. I do agree that sometimes it is good to 'sink or swim', but on many occasions, I feel, having some sort of foundation is great!
I guess it is the same with life - and I think most of life gets the balance quite good with the whole sink or swim, or foundation of theory-ness.
Being a Christian, we are called to stand on the solid foundation - the rock - Jesus Christ. And as long as we have that foundation, we are pretty much good to go with anything. Jesus knows exactly when we need to just dive in, or step off like Indiana Jones in his third movie - to just take that one step of faith that is so scary, but so necessary if we are to ever succeed in life. And other times, Jesus just lets us take a bit of a step back to understand and see where he is going to take us and let us simmer and percolate in that awesome-ness and wonderful-ness that is where he will take us.
Theory is good, practice is too, but the right mix just makes it perfect.

Live.

Only two more weeks of practicum to go. It has really gone so fast. But it has also gone slowly. Isn't that so like life? One second we are waiting sooo long for something, and the next, it is there and gone, and done.
Our life is just so fast. A blink on the radar of eternity.
So I say to you, I implore you:
Live every day. Speak Jesus into people's lives. Care.
It goes a long way.

(And don't worry, this is just as much for me as it is for any of you!)